System and method for visual application development without programming
View Patent ↗A method and system for creating distributed applications without programming is disclosed. A Connection Editor interacts with an interface manager attached to each program in the visual development system. The interface manager allows connections to be made using the Connection Editor between the compatible properties of disparate programs by a visual process. Upon connection, the interface manager automates data flow between disparate properties without requiring any additional programming. Furthermore, the interface manager allows for dynamic properties to be exposed based on the run-time discovery of data.
1. A method in a computer system for exposing dynamic properties of data flow in a visual development configuration between program interfaces during runtime, the method comprising:
providing an interface manager to manage an interface of each of a plurality of computer programs;
implementing a connection editor to interact with the interface managers; and
during runtime of selected ones of the plurality of computer programs, a user operating the connection editor via a computer screen interface to connect selected said interface manages of said plurality of computer programs, and a user operating the connection editor via a computer screen interface to establish or modify a plurality of realtime data flow connections between said plurality of computer programs, thereby controlling, during runtime, data flow between said computer programs.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising said interface manager supporting dynamic connection points to discover certain data during runtime.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein further comprising said interface manager receiving the certain data from a database.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the certain data corresponds to the dynamic connection points, and wherein the method further comprises a user inputting the certain data.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the certain data corresponds to the dynamic connection points, and comprises fields in a protocol.
6. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
creating a data structure for each of the dynamic connection points, wherein the data stricture includes simulation information of a static connection point interface property.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
implementing the interface manager as a common object model (COM) interface.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
implementing a source program tree within the connection editor, wherein the computer programs are grouped by type; and
implementing a target program tree within the connection editor, wherein the computer programs are grouped by type.
9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
classifying object metadata corresponding to each of the computer programs in the source program tree; and
classifying object meta-data corresponding to each of the computer programs in the target program tree.
10. Apparatus, comprising:
a computer processor, memory, and a computer screen;
an interface manager to manage an interface of each of a plurality of computer programs; and
a connection editor, operable by a user via a computer screen interface on the computer screen to interact with said interface managers, and operable by a user via a computer screen interface on the computer screen to connect selected ones of said interface managers to establish or modify a plurality of realtime connections between said plurality of computer programs, thereby controlling, during runtime, data flow between said computer programs.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising:
a computer to execute the data flow between the computer programs via disparate program interfaces without source code programming.
12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein said interface manager includes dynamic connection points to discover certain data during runtime.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein said interface manager includes a mechanism to receive the certain data from a database.
14. The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising a mechanism to receive the certain data via a user defined input.
15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the certain data comprises fields in a protocol.
16. The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising:
machine-readable media including a data structure for each of said dynamic connection points, wherein said data structure includes simulation information of a static connection point interface property.
17. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising:
machine-readable media including logic interoperable with a machine to implement said interface manager as a common object model (COM) interface.
18. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising:
a source program tree configured in said connection editor, wherein said computer programs are grouped by type; and
a target program tree configured in said connection editor, wherein said computer programs are grouped by type.
19. The apparatus of claim 18 , further comprising:
machine-readable media including logic interoperable with a machine to classify object meta-data corresponding to each said computer program in said source program tree; and
machine-readable media including logic interoperable with a machine to classify object meta-data corresponding to each said computer program in said target program tree.
20. The system of claim 19 , wherein said classifications comprise Visual Component, Driver Object, and non-Visual Logic Component.